Ties That Bind: The Wedding Gifting Rulebook for 2019

Topping the list is 2019’s resolve to bring an end to wedding gifts that are meaningless and re-gifted. So if there’s one resolve you make this year, it should be to follow the new (and essential) rules of what, when and how to gift at weddings. Here’s everything you need to know. 

Thinking before gifting is kind of important: Sounds obvious, right? Well, it’s not. With most guests, the choice of wedding gifts is a function of convenience rather than the couple’s wants. And that’s the reason why re-gifting has become a given. The same box is circulated wedding to wedding without anyone appreciating or using it. Think about the couple before you decide what to give them. Would a couple moving to the US carry that huge (although beautiful) crystal vase you’re planning to buy? Just put yourself in the couple’s shoes and think if they would really use the gift you’re getting them. 

Gifts that come a year later are not wedding gifts, they’re anniversary gifts: Laziness is a gift we seem to have in abundance in India. And like most things in life, it takes over our gifting ideology. Wedding gifts, by virtue of their name, are to be given during the course of the wedding. There is simply no reason good enough (unless you’re awaiting delivery on an amazing pre-ordered gift) to get the couple something months or even weeks after their wedding. The charm of a gift is most when it is given at the right time and place. 

Yes, we all re-gift. It’s the inevitable truth of Indian weddings. We get things we will never, ever use, and so we give it to someone else. Some gifts are born with the destiny of just being re-gifted! Know why? Because they were terrible gifts, to begin with! No couple deserves that on their special day, and if you were an unlucky recipient of such a gift, vow to end it right there. Give something meaningful and memorable. After all, you don’t want to be the person who gave a parrot showpiece to the couple. 

2019 is a great year for gifting because the gift registry has emerged as a top wedding trend. With Bollywood biggies like Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra Jonas adopting this for their weddings, and the service being readily available in India now, this trend is all set to conquer the gifting arena. So next time you get invited to a wedding, insist that the couple has a gift-registry, so you can be sure your gift is meaningful, loved and used. And it’s great for you! You can bid good-bye to the guesswork as well as the hassle of carrying a box around on the wedding day.